SoFi offering exposure to alternatives funds from KKR, Carlyle, and others
Firm says development will allow access to private credit, real estate, and pre-IPO companies
It joins growing list of firms offering individuals more opportunity to invest in private markets
January 31, 2024 (Preqin News) – US fintech company Social Finance (SoFi) is to offer individual investors the opportunity to invest into alternative investment funds, including vehicles managed by KKR and Carlyle.
The San Francisco-based firm says members will be able to deploy capital to the ARK Venture Fund, Carlyle Tactical Private Credit Fund, KKR Credit Opportunities Portfolio, Franklin Templeton’s Clarion Partners Real Estate Income Fund, and Franklin BSP Private Credit Fund through its SoFi Invest platform. It is also adding more than 6,000 mutual funds to its platform.
SoFi joins a growing list of firms seeking to cater to individual investors’ demand for the returns and diversification offered by asset classes such as private equity and private debt. Last year, private wealth management platform Allfunds launched a new division aimed at providing its clients access to alternative assets and private markets, while Sygnum Bank is set to tokenize private debt funds that allow reduced ticket sizes and enable investors with more modest capital to enter the sector.
‘Introducing access to alternative investments continues our focus of offering access to investments that are usually reserved for the ultra-wealthy and allows us to provide our members with even more choice and flexibility when it comes to investing,’ Anthony Noto, CEO of SoFi, said in a statement announcing the launch.
SoFi was founded in 2011 by graduates of Stanford University to facilitate lending between alumni and current students. The company has gone on to offer student loans, mortgages, and personal loans, and in 2019, it launched the SoFi Invest platform. It currently has over 7.5 million users.
The firm has raised more than $5.1bn in venture capital, private equity, and via a SPAC merger, and has completed a total of 31 transactions, according to Preqin’s Company Intelligence data. Early venture investors in 2011 included Baseline Ventures, RPM Ventures, Ulu Ventures, and Innovation Endeavors.
SoFi raised venture debt from investors including Morgan Stanley, Bancorp Bank, and East West Bank in 2013, before further equity rounds from investors including Goldman Sachs Asset Management, Institutional Venture Partners, Lakestar, NEXT Investors, RPM Ventures, SharesPost, Third Point Ventures, Wellington Management, and SoftBank Group.
In addition to its early backers, current investors include GGV Capital, Qatar Investment Authority, Accel, POSCO Capital, Centroid Investment Partners, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan, BlackRock, Altimeter Capital, and T Rowe Price.
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